Multiple leading trade unions will not attend Labour Women’s Conference over trans women ban
Labour-affiliated unions Unison, Aslef, Usdaw and the Musicians Union have all said they will boycott the event
Several leading Labour-affiliated trade unions have said that they will not attend Labour Women’s Conference in Liverpool later in the year in protest against the exclusion of trans women.
As reported by the Metro’s Luke Alsford, the UK’s largest trade union Unison is among those who will boycott the event on 26 September, along with Aslef, Usdaw and the Musicians’ Union.
Labour cancelled their women’s conference last year after it received legal advice in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that the term ‘women’ in the Equality Act referred to people assigned female at birth.
Prior to that, the conference had welcomed all self-identifying women.
In December last year, the party’s National Executive Committee voted to ban trans women from taking part in formal proceedings at the women’s conference, including main hall speeches and policy debates.
Unison has said it will not send a delegation to the party’s women’s conference because the ban on trans women conflicts with their trans equality policy.
A UNISON spokesperson said: “The union’s decided against sending a delegation to Labour women’s conference this year. This is because the party’s restrictions on access run counter to UNISON’s policy on trans equality.”
Usdaw has also said the policy “runs counter” to the union’s trans policy.
The Metro article notes that Unison has donated £43,800,000 in the last 25 years, and won’t be sending delegates for the first time due to Labour’s trans policy.
Usdaw gave Labour more than £500,000 before the 2024 general election, the second largest union donation behind Unison, which gave close to £1,500,000.
Train drivers’ union Aslef, which donated £100,000 during the 2024 election campaign, is also refusing to attend.
Following the Supreme Court ruling last year, the Labour government brought forward a Code of Practice for service providers which will come into effect on 5 August, and could result in trans women and men being excluded from single-sex spaces.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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